5 Steps To Ease Anxiety

You're listening to the empowering working moms podcast, episode number 64. Hello, thank you so much for tuning in today. I hope you're having a great day. If you're listening on Wednesday, the day that this podcast drops, happy, happy Wednesday, people call it hump day I guess. I'm not that into that saying. So I'll just call it Wednesday.

Hope everything is going smoothly. And as we bid the summer farewell, you're still able to find ways to enjoy yourself. Even though I know, especially in the northeast, summer is a really fun time that we all enjoy because we get to be outdoors. I want to talk a little bit about one of my clients before we dive into today's topics.

My client Melanie who is an allergist, so she's a physician specializing in allergy immunology. She's a mom of two small kids and we work together and she was telling me how much better she was doing after coaching with me in terms of her anxiety. And the mindfulness tools that we use, she was really able to go from basically every sneeze and cough during COVID would send her into a spiral of catastrophization, worrying about “am I gonna get COVID” and stressing out.

And then through mindfulness tools that we practice, including my three N method, she was really able to process her thoughts and feelings and she was able to get distance from them and find much more peace of mind. And the work we are doing inside my coaching program is really not time intensive. So if it's possible for Melanie to be out of burnout, out of anxiety and really enjoying her life, it's possible for you too. To learn more join my free on demand masterclass four steps to ending burnout and exhaustion to finally get your peace of mind back.

So I started with telling you about Melanie and her anxiety because I want to talk about a little bit of stress and anxiety today and awareness around that because the more we educate ourselves, the more we can kick anxiety's ass and I know this is something that high achieving type A moms really struggle with. So when you're super stressed here's what is often happening.

This is the cycle: you have the stress or the stressor, you have minimal sleep, increased irritability, and then everything is irritating you and now your stress and anxiety are worse. So this is a very vicious cycle. So how do we deal with this and break the cycle? Well, by being aware, and I talk about awareness all the time, but really awareness is the first step in this work, becoming aware of what your brain is doing. If there's one thing that you can learn from my podcast episodes, it is awareness. Awareness also, we're going to talk about today that the brain is doing its own thing.

And that's the monkey mind, which is basically the default mode network or the DMN. And I'm going to explain more about that because it's really important to educate yourself on this topic in combating stress and anxiety. So do you know when your thoughts are racing a mile a minute, really swinging from one thought to the next, or really one branch to the next like a curious monkey? Well, that's why this phenomenon is called a monkey mind. And it is common when stress enters the picture, it's important to recognize that having a busy mind is totally normal, especially when we're stressed out.

So this is really the default mode network, the network in our brain that becomes active when we are not engaged in specific tasks. And it allows our mind to wander, sometimes leading to overthinking or dwelling on the past or the future and not being in the present moment. Now the DMN can really be a double edged sword because it provides us with creative thinking, but can also contribute to higher stress levels when left unchecked.

So think about your default mode network and how maybe if you didn't even know about it, you're leaving it unchecked. So I just want you to be aware of that. Really think about that. Now stress and anxiety and mind wandering are very closely connected. When we are feeling stressed or anxious, our mind tends to gravitate towards the default mode network.

And this causes us to replay stressful scenarios or obsess over things. We plan for challenges and we create an endless loop of worry. And then this can worsen our stress levels. And so it's really important for us to be aware of this, to get away from it and not feed into this default mode network as much.

Now you might be wondering, how do we manage this constant chatter in our minds along with the tendency to dwell on stressful things? Well, here's the answer, cultivating mindfulness, mindful awareness. So by acknowledging that our monkey mind and the default mode network exist, we take our power back, we get power to redirect our focus, to shift our perspective and really be mindful. And mindfulness is truly about being in the present moment, becoming an observer of our thoughts without judgment so that we're not one with our thoughts.

We're not one with our feelings, we're not going down the rabbit hole, and consciously making a decision as to where to direct our mental energy. So here are some practical strategies for navigating stress and anxiety mindfully now that we understand the default mode network and where a lot of this stems from.

So as I mentioned before, and I say in all of this work, the first step and key to this work is awareness. Now, we can also get more specific with that. We can practice breath awareness. And this is really practicing deep breathing exercises, taking a few long, deep breaths, counting to seven or eight while you inhale, you can even hold it for a few seconds, and then exhale slowly for a count of seven or eight.

Do this about five times or so and it will really clear your brain get you into the present moment, get you into your body, out of your head and practice mindfulness where you can be present and really calm your racing thoughts.

Another method is to take mindful breaks. So if you take short breaks throughout your day to just check in with yourself, you can do it let's say every time you use the restroom, or every time you wash your hands, because I'm sure you're doing that more than once a day, take a second to just check in with yourself. Notice any triggers notice what your brain is doing, and gently redirect where your attention is. Or you can just, again, ground yourself and take a few deep breaths or notice there is a body.

Another way to destress and another strategy to navigate stress and anxiety is gratitude practice. And I have a whole episode, I believe on gratitude practice in the very beginning of this podcast series.

So really just being able to think about five things you're grateful for every day, they can be really small, like the roof over your head, or having air conditioning or having heat or having food on the table. And it just helps for us to have those rose colored lenses on to have a more positive outlook on life and can really shift us from the negativity that we might be feeling when we have extra stress or anxiety.

Another method that people like, I'm not so big on this myself, I do journal every now and then, but not daily. But journaling and just getting your thoughts down on paper, just like getting your thoughts out, your feelings and giving them an outlet. Or you could also just vent, to record a voice memo to just get it out, or vent to a friend.

And that can ease some of the tension when you get it out of your brain and out of your system. Now remember, the beauty of this work is being able to manage your own mind and manage your own stress and anxiety. That's amazing, right?

Because you're going to be enjoying your life so much more. But also when we become mindful and we do this work, we're mindful of our thoughts and our patterns, we get to have this ripple effect that really extends beyond ourselves. So we cultivate more peace, ease and flow. Amazing, right, like so good.

And then that in and of itself will affect those around us, those who love us, or our children too, or our partners, or our friends, or our family and they can just feel that more peaceful vibe. And also we are setting a great example for our children on how to manage our emotions or how to cultivate peace, and then they can learn that too.

So it's not just alleviating our own stress and anxiety, but inspiring those around us to really adopt healthier ways of dealing with pressure. Remember that the monkey mind and the default network our natural parts of our brains and cognitive processes. But if we practice a bit of awareness, a bit of mindfulness, we can take control back of our mental state even when we're super challenged.

So practice the strategies I've talked about today. Really embrace the present moment and watch yourself as you increase your resilience and your ability to handle stress and anxiety.

To have a streamlined process to end burnout, exhaustion in 90 days or less that is going to work faster than therapy, yoga, self help books and more processes like the ones I've talked about today, really dive deep into this work to heal from the inside out and end burnout for good book a call with me to get started. PriancaNaikMDcoaching.as.me. I would love to talk to you, see where you are, what's going on with you and create a roadmap for you to end burnout. Thanks so much for tuning in and I will talk to you next week.